5 Creaks and Groans Outside the Door

_ O _ _ S

Hint: to fix attention (on); concentrate

2:35 AM

A creak in the hallway brought prince Devdutt's reminiscing mind back to his books. It must be the wind; he'd thought to himself. He was still new to the school and was getting used to the sights, sounds and smells of his surroundings. He had always been a sound sleeper but hadn't had a single night of restful sleep since his arrival. His dormitory room was a mere eight by ten feet with a decent sized bed, a six-foot cupboard with three shelves, to put away his personal belongings - books, clothes, shoes, jewellery, toiletries, snacks, mementos and even religious articles like idols, prayer beads and such.

His study desk was made of dark wood, just like the panels that covered the bottom half of the walls and was pushed against the only window to the room. A single, wobbly chair was placed at the side of the desk. There was a lantern on the window sill, a jar of water and a glass on a small bedside table. At the time of orientation, the warden had repeatedly asked him to treat the school's properties with great care and to refrain from playing or doing physical activities inside his room.

The common bathrooms and lavatories were a revelation in themselves. Devdutt had been unable to decide if he should request for a private bathroom for his daily ablutions but the sternness in the warden's voice had made him move past the issue. He just had to start his day earlier than he did back at the palace if he wanted to be done with his bathroom activities before daybreak. He was determined to avoid any and all interaction with the other students. He was disciplined and was firm about one thing - he had absolutely no intention of making the room, the school or its lowly properties, his own.

2:40 AM

The school's exterior resembled the impregnable fortress walls that protected his palace. On the inside, the common rooms had plastered walls, dark wood panelling, large arched windows, exposed wooden beams with high ceilings. The dormitories were mostly large rectangular rooms with rows of beds on each side, from one end to the other. There were no moving partitions or screens and students had no privacy. But the elite students were accommodated in private rooms like the one Devdutt was assigned to. This served two main purposes. One, was to help the new students get used to their surroundings, interact with their peers at their own pace and live comfortably until they were ready to be moved into common sleeping quarters. Two, there was an implicit sense of superiority among the white students that they were perpetually itching to flaunt and thrust upon their Indian peers. The school authorities were painfully aware of this distressing line of thought and had made every attempt to quarantine rowdy behaviour against the local elites.

Devdutt was a nervous wreck on his first night at the school. He had never seen a school building before and now he was living at one, all the time. And he utterly despised it for a whole list of substantial reasons. To begin with, it was far, far away from home. The weather was mostly cold, which left his room and the classrooms appearing dark and dreary on most days. The wooden floors of the private dormitories were loose in certain areas and would creak and groan even upon stepping lightly; giving him a fright every time someone passed by his room. His neighbours weren't kind or supportive despite being Princes of their respective Kingdoms. It was an English school, with English as the preferred language of communication. Indian students were discouraged to greet or converse in their local languages and so the list went on.

The cool night air was coming in from underneath his room door and his bare feet were starting to feel cold and stiff. Makrai's weather was bright and sunny for most parts of the year. The summers were extremely hot and dry. He was accustomed to being barefoot all the time and wore sandals only when he was asked to. His sandals were made of leather and would make his feet sweat and blister frequently. His school shoes were strange. Firstly, there was a flap that looked like a tongue, which had to be pulled and adjusted. Then there were these holes that had to be pulled together with strings. Why?! Why put holes in them and then tie them together? He'd wondered. They were black in colour and heavy to walk in, but they kept his feet warm and were perfect for this weather. He had taken them off and had placed them neatly under his bed, earlier that evening. He decided to put them on and pace the room for a while, to stop his mind from wandering into the past.

He paced around his tiny room, counting his steps. At 8 AM, he was to take his first English Language test. The thought of doing so made his body tremble, but he dragged his focus back to his feet. 263, 264, 265…. He counted till he had taken a thousand steps. His feet had warmed up and his legs could feel a rush of blood in them. He was ready to take another shot at the study material. Yes, it was the language of his father's ally, who in the last couple of months had seemed quite the opposite. But he was determined to try, for Guru ji's sake. He glanced at the clock one last time, sat in his chair with his spine erect and picked up his book. "Concentrate!" he told himself.